Edinburgh (AFP)
Racing 92 opener Finn Russell is returning to the Scottish squad in preparation for the Six Nations Tournament (Feb.6 - March 20) after missing most of the fall testing due to injury, according to the list released Wednesday.
Russell, 28, suffered a groin injury in his final game in the 2020 Tournament against Wales (14-10 win) on October 31.
He then missed the entire Autumn Nations Cup, an ephemeral competition created because of the health context and won by England.
Scotland coach Gregor Townsend, faced with the absence of opener Adam Hastings (shoulder), renewed his confidence in Jaco van der Walt, a player born in South Africa who had made his debut with the XV du Chardon in his last match of the Nations Cup of Nations on December 5 in Ireland (lost 31-16).
He was then preferred to Duncan Weir, not selected in the group of 35 players unveiled Wednesday.
This group unsurprisingly features captain and back Stuart Hogg or his partner from Exeter, second row Jonny Gray, but also four novices: hookers David Cherry and Ewan Ashman, second row Alex Craig and center Cameron Redpath.
The latter, born in Narbonne in December 1999, is the son of the former scrum half Bryan Redpath, who accumulated 60 caps with Scotland from 1993 to 2003 and played one season (1999-2000) under the colors of the Narbonne Racing Club.
Scotland are due to start the Tournament on February 6 with a trip to England, the defending champion.
The group of 35 players:
Full-backs (15): Darcy Graham, Chris Harris, Stuart Hogg (cap.), Huw Jones, Blair Kinghorn, James Lang, Sean Maitland, Byron McGuigan, Ali Price, Cameron Redpath, Finn Russell, Scott Steele, Duncan Taylor, Jaco van der Walt, Duhan van der Merwe
Forwards (20): Ewan Ashman, Simon Berghan, David Cherry, Alex Craig, Scott Cummings, Allan Dell, Matt Fagerson, Zander Fagerson, Gary Graham, Grant Gilchrist, Jonny Gray, Richie Gray, Oli Kebble, Willem Nel, Jamie Ritchie, Grant Stewart, Rory Sutherland, Blade Thomson, George Turner, Hamish Watson,
© 2021 AFP